How is new AST feeling?

[Nayukhuut]

I like it so far. My only complaint is that there are a few more buttons than I would normally like. The changes otherwise seem good. I’m missing Sleeve Draw less than I thought I would, I keep forgetting Divi no longer needs seals, and I like that Star now covers half the planets. Only level 82 so far, but having fun.

[Jok3r]

Card management is problematic. I feel like I came back to the beginning of ShB. We lost control of the RNG.
For example, if I need Lunar, but Draw + Redraw gives me Solar and Celestial, I either have to Undraw the card or lose an Astrodyne buff. Also, the RNG on the Minor Arcana and the loss of Sleeve Draw are problematic.

[Liam_Harper]

In terms of toolkit it's great, but it's button bloated and less fun than ShB imo. Astrodyne just doesn't really do anything. You're buffing yourself, the noodle AST with the weakest personal dps in the entire group, with 1-2 buffs that are slightly weaker than regular cards, maybe once every 90 sec. At least Divination was a big beefy group buff that was worth managing Seals for.

Minor Arcana is the same. Since it's a long 1 minute cooldown, if you get Lord 50% of the time that's one Lord every 2 minutes. So you proc a measly 250 potency every 2 minutes and we needed 2 extra buttons for that?

Heal toolkit is obviously amazing, Star is ludicrous, they just need to trim the fluff or condense it into a more meaningful button.

[Kyaruo]

Still has the issue of throwing out your card too soon after you attack and not getting a seal; feels bad :[

[Vukimukinukiduki]

1 shafle is the worst especcialy without sleeve draw, many times i fail to draw 3 signs and missing Harmony of Mind. It's just pure luck to draw 3 signs

[IceBlueNinja]

Cant say, I toss my star globe into my glam dresser and moved on to sage which am enjoying with 0 complaints, same boring cards with only lady/crown being changed back to stormblood effects with aoe instead is alright but that was not enough + removal of noct which idc for no more cause sage such a better noct ast . Maybe if the cards get some flavor again like old stormblood one maybe one day ill pick up ast again.

[Gemina]

1 shafle is the worst especcialy without sleeve draw, many times i fail to draw 3 signs and missing Harmony of Mind.

It should be clear that you are not intended to get it 100% of the time. I am predicting that even Redraw will eventually be nuked, so I would get used to this. Undraw might remain an option, but you're throwing away damage. Redraw right now really just feels like the dev's compromise to still keep some RNG mitigation with the mechanic. I know they just want to be rid of it completely.

It's just pure luck to draw 3 signs

Yes. This is the intention. I know some players are going to be all, "Well that sucks." Nothing wrong with that, but it remains the intent behind the mechanic regardless.

[Vukimukinukiduki]

Gemina, i just hate when abilities have rng mechanics. Crit chance is enough rng i think.

[Liam_Harper]

It's 56% chance to get a 3 Seal Astrodyne, but you're almost guaranteed a 2 seal. Both 2 and 3 seal are worth less than 100 potency each. At this point you could probably take Redraw off your bar entirely and the overall loss on a raid fight would be 0.5% or less and even Astrodyne itself is worth maybe a few % and is mainly there for mana economy. The whole system is just a waste of hotbar space.

[Gemina]

With just the changes up to lv80, I am enjoying most of them. I know the direction they are going with AST, and I am on board. It just needs some tweaks, and I will just fall in love with this healer for all time.

Minor Arcana/Crown Play just need to go away. They feel tacked on, and do not add anything to AST gameplay. I strongly dislike having to monitor another CD on AST right now, especially knowing that it might not translate to a heal I can use, or damage I can put into a burst window. SE, please just get rid of it.

Play should trigger the GCD. Draw is fine and needs to stay an the oGCD. I was thinking of upping it to three charges, but think it is fine at two for the time being. Redraw needs to be nuked to finally circumvent the long time core issue with this mechanic. As a result of this, Astrodyne needs to give a damage boost no matter what so they at least get the haste buff as consolation for a poor draw, and the configuration of the seals acquired need to reflect the true odds:
2:1 ratio of seals = Haste
1 of each seal = Damage up
3 of one type of seal = Haste + Damage up

Base MP should be given when using Astrodyne instead of the refresh effect given currently, and is not dependent on the type of seals acquired. Being able to only Redraw once per draw and the best result truly being a luck of the draw is a giant step in the right direction. SE just needs to put both feet in.

Everything else is good. I am wondering how to save more buttons. AST feels a bit bloated. MA/CP are two. These basically replace Diurnal and Nocturnal Sect as abilities you hotkey, but they were a set it, forget it. Now we are actively using these two hotkeys/buttons, and it doesn't feel good at all. Undraw is another possibility.

After messing around with SGE, I wonder if the augmenting style they have can also be used to change Benefect and Helios to Aspected Benefect and Aspected Helios. They can save another button by allowing the AST to augment those two skills with an oGCD ability.

Ultimately like I said, I believe they are heading in the right direction and are not quite there yet. They just need to keep heading in that direction.